Kyle's Briefs and Boxers
by Wermo
Summary: Inspired by Alexander Ripley's Unsaid like Amanda's Shorts, and similarly titled. A collection of ficlets and slightly longer fics that will all be unrelated. Rated T. Chapter 5 is titled How Hills Had Heaven! Weird title, I know.
1. First Mission

**Kyle's Briefs or Boxers**, a collection of short stories (ficlets) featuring Kyle. Anyone who's read my Amanda's Shorts will know who inspired this idea (Alexander Ripley). I thank him for this. To Matt Dallas for portraying a sweet, innocent, and fledgling superhero.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kyle XY**

**Author's Note:** Text in _italics _are Kyle's monologues, which I've routinely left out of all of my stories to date. Well, in Kyle's Briefs or Boxers, I will be trying to use his monologues frequently, especially at the beginning and at the end.

_I stood in my room, fresh from my morning shower, with the biggest problem I was going to face that day: should I wear briefs or boxers?_

(Joke monologue)

Now I'm serious!

***

**First Mission**

_I often wondered why people chose self destructive activities: things like drinking alcohol or using drugs or prostitution. There are so many vices in the world that I wondered if Adam meant for me to even tackle these issues at all. Perhaps he intended me to meet the greater challenges of energy, climate change, and perhaps even space travel._

_But what could I do? How could I start with the complex if I couldn't handle the smaller problems facing humanity? And so I attempted my first rescue._

Kyle discovered Declan drunk again and in a sorry state. Not only was his lip swollen and split, a viscous string of clotting blood hung from his lower lip while he held three of his permanent teeth in his hand. "Kyle," he slurred and pointed erratically, "those guys beat me up." He hiccoughed, and finished, "Teach them a lesson will ya?"

Kyle took a deep breath and instantly analyzed how drunk Declan really was; he was severely inebriated and almost certain to be vomiting repeatedly that night, and more than likely the next hour. The four guys who had beaten his friend up stood to the side of the room, conferring loudly but staring at him. Even without his hearing ability he could read their lips just fine. "Who's he?" and "Doesn't look too tough," came through loud and clear. They too had been drinking.

It irked Kyle to see normally level headed people – guys most of the time – become brainless idiots after they imbibed a certain amount of alcohol. It was his theory that many guys knew very well the stupid things they were capable of when they drank in excess but that they actually wanted to feel the power of doing something reckless, dangerous, and even potentially fatal.

These guys were thugs; that was clear. He turned back to Declan. "What did you tell them?"

Declan burped a particularly noxious wet one. The air seemed to be coated with a mixture of alcohol and bile. Kyle just bumped up his friend's visit to the toilet to within five minutes. Nonetheless Declan seemed nonplussed about that upcoming activity – whether the idea even occurred to him was in question. He pointed and shouted, "Spikey thought I was hitting on his woman! But," he blurted as he missed his step and almost crashed to the floor in a heap, "she was all over me. I'm irrit— irresta—" Declan started snickering. "I'm sexy, man!"

"Go to the bathroom Declan," Kyle said, none too lightly pushing his friend in the right direction.

Declan turned and almost fell again, "Why man?"

"You're going to be sick in ten seconds."

Declan's face paled and he started staggering and hurrying to the nearest toilet. He was suddenly green and he held his stomach and tried to keep his mouth closed as he shouted, "Git outa the way; I'm hurlin'!"

Kyle had to intentionally deaden his hearing to avoid hearing the inevitable splashing of vomit on tile. He was quite certain that happened at least once a week, if not more. He shook his head as he approached the quartet of trouble makers. They were also drunk but nowhere near Declan.

The guys had just shared a laugh at Declan's expense – not that _that_ wasn't warranted – and now looked at him with open hostility. "Ooh, look, hot shot got a tough friend," the tallest one said. He was very scrawny and posed absolutely no threat. The shortest of the group laughed raucously.

"Go away if you know what's good for you," another guy said. He had a tattoo on the back of his neck.

Kyle took a small breath and determined who the alpha male was of this group. It was the guy who hadn't yet spoken, a guy with spiky hair. He directed his comment to him. "My friend was too drunk to know what he was doing; you didn't have to beat him up."

"Did that give him the right to jump Bobbie's girl?" the shortest shouted.

Kyle shook his head. "I don't dispute that. You could just as easily have pushed him and he would have toppled over."

To this the guys just laughed. To them it didn't really matter what had happened; they were just happy to have been able to vent some of their testosterone out into the open, regardless of the victim. The leader finally spoke up. "Your friend grabbed my girl, end of story. You want me to grab yours and make out with her, just point." With both hands the guy – clearly nowhere near as intoxicated as his friends – gestured expansively. "Which one of these fine ladies is your squeeze?" His expression turned vicious. "Let's see how you like it."

The sad fact was that he no longer had a girlfriend. He'd had to drop both for entirely different reasons. Although at this point in time they didn't matter, it still panged his heart not to be able to be with either of them.

Not willing to explain himself to these brutes, Kyle said simply, "She's not here."

The tall lanky guy took a step forward, "So he's a playa too!"

The roughly built guy added, "Knew it."

The short one only laughed while the leader scowled.

It was then Kyle noticed the leader was on something quite a bit more potent than plain alcohol: pain medication, and a lot of it. He found himself blurting out the question, "How long have you been given to live?" He knew it was a strong narcotic too so perhaps he was just one of those poor saps who got stuck taking them in ever higher doses to keep the mostly phantom pain away.

"What?" the man said. He was now seemingly much paler despite the darkness. His friends on the other hand all raised their fists.

Kyle ignored the three others and instead named the medication by its brand name and then by its street name. "How long have you been taking it? I assumed it was by medical order." As he looked closer he saw very faint traces of make-up on the man's face, mostly under the eyes and on the cheeks. Even before the first punch flew toward him he knew very well this guy was not merely addicted to the medication but was in fact on his last legs.

As Kyle halted one punch and swept the legs out from under the other two, he turned to the leader, who, as yet, had not moved. "I'm fine," he muttered mostly to himself.

Kyle pushed the remaining fly to the ground. The two he'd swept to the floor he held in place to keep them from getting hurt. "You're not."

The leader's jaw set as he threw a punch at Kyle. Through gritted teeth he shouted, "Get him!" Of course none of his friends could as they were all in somewhat uncomfortable positions on the ground, groaning from the effort of freeing themselves. Kyle didn't enjoy violence by any stretch – in fact loathed it much of the time – but he knew that sometimes he had to defend himself with force.

Of course, this wasn't one of those times. These were simple savages and he had complete control of the situation. He did notice with regret that the bouncers had also taken note of the proceedings and were heading his way. Why hadn't they noticed them beating up Declan?

Kyle raised his hands and pretended to let himself get struck by the punch. "You should get help for your addiction; I'm sorry about your health though."

The bouncers tackled the guy who'd thrown the punch and Kyle allowed himself to be held by another.

It took almost ten minutes for the bouncers to determine that Kyle wasn't the aggressor in the situation and so they let him stay. The others were thrown out though, and Kyle knew well they weren't done for the night.

When Declan came back – still looking somewhat green – Kyle said, "Let's go home."

"Why? They haven't announced last call yet," Declan said.

Kyle had a thought that just might make a difference in his friend. "We're done here." When Declan began to laugh and turn around, he added, "Or would you prefer I made you allergic to alcohol?"

Declan turned around swiftly. "No way! You wouldn't…" Declan couldn't seem to finish the sentence.

Kyle smiled. Perhaps the dark smile would have made Tom Foss giggle like a school girl. He wondered if it might indeed. "Or maybe I'll just make it so everything you drink tastes like puke. Would you prefer that?" He put his hand on his friend's shoulder and closed his eyes.

Declan squirmed out from under his hand. "No, no! Anything but that!"

He allowed his smile to broaden. "Promise me you'll quit cold turkey on the alcohol and I might help you with the withdrawal symptoms – maybe."

"Well, I gotta finish what I got at home first—"

Declan didn't get to finish because Kyle put his hand right on Declan's mouth. "Puke flavour it is then," he said.

Kyle didn't do what he'd promised – he couldn't be that cruel – but he knew Declan didn't like olives, at all, and so kind of modified his taste buds to register his current breath (alcohol and a mixture of bile) as a particularly fragrant pile of olives.

He made sure the affected taste buds would die in the next few hours to be replaced by new ones in about ten days. It was surprising to learn that few people even knew taste buds died regularly on your tongue. Only if you had them all die at once did you ever really discover this.

Declan started smacking his lips together. "Aw man, that's really gross!"

Kyle smacked his friend hard on the back, "You still want the puke flavour? I'm happy to oblige…"

When Declan pushed him feebly, Kyle smiled.

***

When they stepped outside they had barely gotten to his car when they were discovered by the rabble who had been kicked out of the bar. Kyle had expected it, had in fact determined there was a 92% chance of it occurring; he only didn't really have a way to predict how poorly they would take their defeat.

"I hoped you'd gone home," Kyle said to the leader. Two other guys had joined them so now they were six.

Declan whispered from behind him, "Kyle."

Kyle had already noticed their predicament; he was thoroughly unimpressed. He saw the guy's limp and suddenly understood. "Is it a brain tumour?"

The two new arrivals hefted their baseball bats and walked slowly toward him.

***

The leader – his name was Andrew – had been too proud to admit it out loud but Kyle had received confirmation when all five assailants were lying unconscious on the ground. When people believed their knees to be broken, or their Achilles heel to be snapped in two like an elastic band gone bad, they went down in a heap in a hurry.

Kyle really hated knocking them out though, but it was also clear Andrew wouldn't talk unless there were no spectators.

"Why are you even out here? You should be with your friends and family," Kyle said.

Declan added, "Or with your girlfriend."

"She was my girlfriend until two nights ago. I kind of beat her up," Andrew said.

Kyle exhaled noisily and ignored Declan's furious rambling behind him. He made sure Declan couldn't get to Andrew's throat; he was still quite drunk. "Kind of, that's nice," Kyle said sarcastically. And yet compassion still found a hook in his heart even for this puss-filled human. Brain tumours were vile things and could alter personality to such a degree to make them unrecognizable. The afflicted often became particularly violent, even the most docile.

Kyle took a step closer to Andrew, who visibly tried to withdraw but was already plastered against the wall. "I won't harm you. I only need to know why you're not with your friends and family before…"

"I die? Has it occurred to you that I haven't told anyone about my tumour? How do you even know about it?" Andrew became incensed and put a hand to his head. Screaming he said, "You didn't even touch them!" He pointed, indicating the unconscious young men on the ground. "What are you?"

Kyle still didn't enjoy lying but now knew better than to say the absolute truth. Yet, was there really anything he could say to answer the question without revealing too much? It was true Andrew was dying – and quite possibly within a week or two – but that left a lot of time to alert the authorities to him.

He sighed before saying, "I'm a hallucination. You have to go home before you have a seizure."

Andrew smiled and said, "Yeah right. The guys saw you just fine. Are you an alien or something?"

Declan restrained outright laughter but sputtered through his hand anyway. "His own brother thought that too!"

Kyle turned and spoke loudly, "Puke flavour if you open your mouth one more time Deck."

"You're messed up! You can do stuff without touching people but you worry about a lost cause like me. Just kill me, or eat my intestines or something!" Andrew moved forward and tried to punch Kyle. He twirled like a top from the force of the punch and crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

When the six awoke they only remembered they'd been drinking heavily. Andrew had a sense that something else happened, but couldn't quite place the reason for the feeling. Besides, Kyle made sure he wasn't in too much pain before he died, all of three days later. Andrew had even smiled five minutes and twelve seconds before he passed.

***

Declan didn't touch another drink for months – and those he'd had at his place he gave them away to friends and family. It was never easy and he understood that it required his total commitment to stay clean but Kyle kept his promise to help dull that edge he sometimes felt, especially when others were imbibing drinks in front of him.

When he next took a drink it was after Kyle had given him a small pink pill.

The alcohol tasted great going down but he never got a buzz or anything even after a fifth drink.

When Kyle returned with his blood test results, Kyle was all smiles. "It's as though you were drinking water. You have no alcohol in your blood."

Jessi appeared from behind him. "You might want to hold your nose when you next take a dump though. The alcohol will be in there in concentrated form. It really reeks!" They shared a very good laugh.

_The alcoholic drink industry was too big at that time for me to take down or even negotiate with, even with Jessi's help. But together we concocted a solution for alcoholics. The occasional prescribed use of the Drink Popper as it was affectionately later called by alcoholics everywhere gave them a chance to have a drink with no risk of getting drunk while also later preventing the urge to drink further. Without the rowdiness of the mostly male drunk population, even the police and politicians agreed it was a great invention._

_Now, if only I could make the waste product smell better…_

FIN


	2. D is for Derivative

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kyle XY**

**Author's Note:** Text in _italics _are Kyle's monologues.

_For the thousandth time I wondered, should I choose my sweet sugar – Amanda – or my hot pepper – Jessi?_

(Joke monologue)

Now I'm serious! I might make this a habit with these ficlets, but they may not always be at the beginning!

***

**D is for Derivative**

"Father," Shawna called in her obscenely cute and shrill voice.

As he had not been far – Kyle found it impossible not to hover over her like a mother hen – he entered the bathroom where she stood, her little stub-like legs devoid of pants and underwear. He shook his head when he noticed she had chosen to use the adult potty instead of her little plastic one. When she had descended from the toilet bowl she had inadvertently left a brown trail along the white porcelain.

_My daughter Shawna, at the tender age of thirty-two months, suffered my parental ministrations because her arms weren't yet long enough to completely clean herself when she had a bowel movement. As a single parent with a full time job, I actually knew she enjoyed my company and even relished it._

_When her mother had died I had been sorely tempted to offer her up for adoption. Today though, I learned just how lucky I was to have her in my life._

When he finished cleaning her she said, "Thank you father," and gave him a hug, her arms unable to even go from shoulder to shoulder on his wide frame.

He couldn't suppress his smile. She always called him father. "You can use the letter d you know; please call me dad."

Shawna scrunched her eyes and grimaced. "D is for derivative, not dad."

He shook his head at his brilliant daughter. "There are many words in the English language that start with the letter d sweetie," he playfully scolded.

She replied immediately with a slight lateral shake of her head, "If linguists could just stop adding words to the English language long enough for me to count them I could tell you how many words there are that start with the letter d, father."

It was true; now that much of North America was using a single standardized form of English – it contained a healthy amount of French and Spanish influence – linguists were adding literally hundreds of words every day. His daughter was quicker with language than with her numbers. Despite this she still lisped a rare s or slipped up the pronunciation of th, especially when it was followed with the letter r. Her tiny mouth looked so adorable when she spoke.

There was a reason for his insistence on her use of the word dad. "Everyone else your age uses it when describing their fathers. Some even use dada."

She frowned and tapped him playfully on the arm. "Dada is barely a word. It's like the word booboo. Further, I want to know why you refuse to do as other adults do while requiring that I, your daughter, am forced to comply with societal norms."

He really shouldn't have shown her that debate instructional video. Since then – all of three weeks ago – she had debated practically everything he'd asked of her. Beforehand she'd been submissive and compliant with his every request. He shrugged, embarrassed that he even thought such a thing. "I don't want to attract undue attention."

She seemed hurt. "So you want me to behave like an idiot instead?"

He shook his head, "I want you to act more normal."

She blinked. "You are hardly normal, father. You're a clone."

That was new. He took a deep breath from the shock of her rebuttal. He had obviously taken great care to teach her everything he knew from the moment he'd noticed she could handle things. She had a terrific brain with a potential that was perhaps even higher than his. And she had been born at full term, and not a week longer.

He didn't have the time to review in his holographic memory if he'd somehow told her he was a clone. "What's a clone Shawna?"

She told him, with exacting detail, just as he would have described it. With her answer, he narrowed down the possibilities to five. He, extended family, and their computer were the primary culprits by the looks of it.

"Why do you think I'm a clone?"

She stared at him curiously, her head cocked to one side. "You dream of it dad – I mean, father."

"Gotcha!" he shouted and hugged her furiously. While he was giddy that she had exhibited her first ability, his intestines felt like tying themselves in knots. Even he couldn't read minds. He pulled away after he'd finished tickling her but held her on his lap to stare into her eyes.

"You look just like your mother, you know," he said, tears suddenly threatening to spill from his eyes.

She put her tiny hands on her stomach. "I think you've told me that every single day of my life, dad."

_That day I learned how special my little daughter was, and how much I would have lost had I given her up for adoption. After that day I accepted her proposal for her to call me dad in return for letting her be herself, whatever that would entail._

FIN


	3. Powerless

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kyle XY**

**Author's Note:** Text in _italics _are Kyle's monologues.

_The wave of pleasure washed over me over and over and I felt all my muscles contract – then the power went out, even the satellites in orbit. My desire to explore strange new horizons – those of the skin, with my beloved – just happened to be what would lead to humanity's extinction._

"_Was it good for you," I would ask, and she would nod, but with intense sadness, for we'd be dying in each other's arms, after so little exploration, so little pleasure._

_We'd go at it again, just for something to distract us from the sonic boom of the crashing satellites and the international space station._

_Oh yeah, that's the spot, I'd think, just before we got vaporized._

(Joke monologue)

Now I'm serious! Yeah, I realize that one's probably the dirtiest thing I've written yet!

***

**Powerless **(strangely no relation to the above monologue!)

_I realized much too late that Cassidy was more evil than I had ever realized. Firstly, he was a clone, like me, only he'd never been made a prisoner as I had for the first sixteen years of my life._

_Secondly, he had lied perfectly well through his teeth and with his body signals when he'd said the chip Latnok had put in Amanda's head was supposed to dissolve on its own._

_He had known – had counted on it actually – that Jessi and I would choose to destroy it with electricity. By doing so, I ensured her transformation. In retrospect it was quite clear, but even those with abilities – powers – we couldn't possibly know that the transformation would produce such a creature._

_And yet maybe it had all been done by design?_

***

"Amanda," Kyle said, thoroughly worried at what he heard and felt, "You're very sick; you should be in hospital."

Amanda shrugged him off, the waves of heat radiating off her skin. Her temperature was 110 F. By all the accounts he'd read, she should be dead already, not walking and seemingly fine. "Get away you pest before I kick you where the sun don't shine!"

Despite his seeming inability to comprehend common expressions, he knew this one. It shocked him that his girlfriend, his sweet, lovable Amanda, would even say such a thing to him. A pest! Maybe she was hallucinating and delirious and at any moment she'd toppled and convulse before dying. To stop such an event he took her by the arm, intending to bring her to the hospital kicking and screaming if need be, but he was intent to keep his sunless spot well protected.

Amanda looked at his hand on her arm and suddenly thrust her free hand palm outward at his sternum. He'd never let go of her arm and as he flew into the brick wall behind him he saw – sickeningly – that her arm was still twitching in his hand.

Worse was that Amanda had already regrown another arm to replace the one she'd lost and was advancing toward him with a leer of pure hatred. Her voice was deep and scared him beyond belief. "You've been warned bug! Now my foot will find a home in your abdomen."

In one swift movement her foot crashed knee deep into the brick wall where he'd been only moments before. Now, hanging from a beam in the ceiling of the Rack, Kyle surveyed his options. Amanda was ten times more powerful than he was and was willing to destroy him just for having tried to get her help.

Against all reason, he knew he had no chance unless he had Jessi's help. She'd been training a lot harder than he ever had this past year. He closed his eyes and sent a message of urgency to Jessi, with the addition of begging her to get Foss too.

Maybe heavy artillery would be the only thing that could work.

When Kyle reopened his eyes, bat-like wings had sprouted on Amanda's back and her face barely even looked human anymore. It was beet red, scaled, and had a large snout instead of a beautiful nose and mouth, one he'd only hours before made out with – okay, more than made out with: made love.

His first time was marred by this grotesque creature. Its belly was already round with creature spawn and Amanda – if he could even call her that anymore – sprouted a spiked tail that gleamed with purple venom. The eyes of the creature were black, a pure absence of light, but showed immense intellect.

Kyle couldn't suppress the most intimate question, "Are you still there Amanda?"

The harsh cackle that responded to his question neither denied or confirmed it. "In a few hours, there will be nothing you can do, insect."

He freed his left hand and concentrated on the fluids inside Amanda, inside the beast, and tried to push them as hard as he could into the tables below her. The creature wavered in the air, clearly challenged by his attack, but she did not fall. She grunted, "You're stronger than you look, insect."

With those words she flew threw the large windowpane at the front of the restaurant. Splinters and shards of glass exploded into the grass and the street beyond. By the time he fell back to the ground and looked outside, whatever Amanda had transformed into was nowhere in sight.

A few explosions in the distance showed him her path though.

In less than five minutes Jessi and Foss arrived from separate directions, Jessi on foot and Foss in his black armored SUV. Kyle knew he always carried a few grenades and a number of automatic and semi-automatic machine guns – almost all thoroughly illegal – but with the problems they'd had in the past, Kyle had been convinced it was a necessary precaution.

It didn't mean he liked violence though.

A huge fireball and resounding blast shined in the distance as a gas station went up in flames. Suddenly a lone police siren sounded then several and in less than thirty seconds likely the city's entire emergency staff responded en masse, clearly remembering what 911 had taught all Americans.

Little did they know this wasn't a terrorist.

Jessi's eyes were open wide as she came running and stopped before him. "What happened? Is Amanda all right?"

Jessi and Amanda may not have liked each other, or even mildly tolerated each other, but neither had ever intended the other harm. Even with her faults Kyle was immensely touched at Jessi's thoughtfulness. He hurried into her arms and gave her a huge hug. As tears erupted from his eyes he choked out the only words he could, "That was Amanda."

Foss, now beside them, seemed utterly calm. "Did she just destroy that gas station?"

Kyle nodded into Jessi's neck and kissed it repeatedly. Jessi gasped and held him harder as a result. She began to breathe heavily and Kyle's mind clouded as he smelled the fresh shampoo in her hair. He gripped her back tightly and she reciprocated, shocked yet ready to continue.

Foss yelled, bringing them back to reality. They let go of each other, each blinking the fog of lust from their eyes. "Kyle, please don't tell me her skin was red and scaly."

He nodded as he took Jessi's hand in his. It was clear from Foss's unspoken words that Amanda was surely lost to him and to the world.

Another tremendous explosion flashed at the horizon, likely another gas station. "Latnok must have finally infiltrated Area 61."

Jessi corrected him, "Area 51 you mean."

Foss shook his head. "Area 51 is just a pile of miniature man-made demons. Area 61 was the real deal and was supposed to be destroyed long ago. It's clear though something survived and it's now in Amanda. At least they only live a few hours so we're fine." He started running to the SUV. "Come on!"

When they were inside and he punched the vehicle into drive, Kyle coughed and asked, "What if she was pregnant?"

"Then we're doomed, but at least that's impossible. They have to mate with a willing partner. It's something of a fail safe in their genetic code."

Several seconds passed before Jessi slapped Kyle hard across the face. "You slept with her!"

Foss turned a severe stare at Kyle who blushed and nodded.

Foss never saw the ambulance racing in from the left and was killed instantly.

When Kyle and Jessi woke in the wreckage of the massive accident, they were both fine but were caged inside their metal prison. Firefighters were already on scene and were trying valiantly to get them out of the mangled steel with the jaws of life but Foss's SUV had heavier armor than they were accustomed to.

In the meantime a three hundred foot tall red beast best described as a contender for a certain fictitious lizard that commonly attacked Tokyo was pillaging and destroying everything in sight. Dozens if not hundreds of smaller beasts flew around it.

As tank fire and heavy artillery were thrown toward the beast – and fighter jets and attack helicopters fired their missiles at the thing – numerous explosions and terrific gouts of blood poured over the streets, coating them with thick sticky fluid.

The smaller creatures feasted on this fluid and soon had engorged bellies of their own and flew in all directions.

When Kyle and Jessi were safely out of the SUV they personally witnessed one such smaller creature give birth to dozens of red flies which grew to human size in a matter of minutes. The one who had given birth to them started to grow ever larger and it was headed their way.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Jessi turned to Kyle and said, "We're powerless against them Kyle! We have to run away!"

He had to agree that it didn't look like there was anything they could do. Soldiers appeared on scene and a tank fired a massive shell at the growing creature, destroying its head and most of its torso. A fountain of blood splattered nearby buildings and the human sized creatures dove into the fluid. A number were shot by bazooka fire and another by the tank but five survived and flew away even as their bellies grew larger.

***

"I released you into the world! Obey me and we can rule it together," Cassidy shouted into a microphone.

The gigantic creature glanced at the flea, at the insect, and laughed even as it squashed him underfoot.

A number of nuclear missiles bore down on Seattle and surrounding cities, blasting everything within 500 miles to ash.

***

A month later, Jessi and Kyle survived by continuously moving north. Kyle was tormented by visions of the deformed Amanda turning into the world's ruling creature. Fully grown at 1500 feet their lifespan was also now significantly longer than the few hours of the human sized version.

They only had to cower in their hole for five years – they expected – before the largest ones died.

They only wondered whether anyone else could survive? It appeared as though the creatures refused to mutilate themselves to propagate. Only through violence and the shedding of their blood could they multiply. It's how the things are fertilized, with violence, with ignition, with combustion.

Oddly, Jessi periodically said something quite out of character, "Amanda's alive Kyle; she's here beside me!"

Kyle shook his head and dismissed her. She was clearly delusional. At the horizon he watched one adult Overlord stomping and commanding its underlings as they hurried in the construction of some massive structure. What it would do was beyond imagining, and yet Kyle wondered if he might have already imagined it.

Maybe it would extend their lives or worse, intentionally shed their blood so they can continue to live on the Earth.

He shuddered as he sat in his hole, waiting for the inevitable. If only he hadn't made love to the blonde vixen that had been Amanda.

***

Jessi turned to Amanda and put her hand to the girl's head. Kyle had been dreaming now for three whole days and was starting to show signs of malnutrition. What she saw there shocked her. The chip that had been planted in Amanda's head was directing a signal directly into Kyle's brain.

Inadvertently she was the one killing him!

Against her better judgement Jessi sat Amanda down and talked. After two hours of questions and tears – and one failed attempt at disabling the device with electricity (it only made it stronger it seemed) – Amanda booked a flight out of the country, as far as she could afford.

Amanda had brought in her checked luggage a little special bottle of pills. As fate had it though, Kyle's condition had never ceased to worsen and the flight had misdirected her luggage.

Desperate and despondent, Amanda walked across the street.

***

Kyle snapped out of his nightmare and instantly saw that he was naked in literally a pool of sweat. Jessi hovered over him, gaunt looking and with tears having evidently slid down her cheeks for many hours.

"Kyle," she said. "Don't be angry." She took his hands at his smile and brought him into her memories.

***

Amanda stood in front of memory Jessi above a sweaty Kyle thrashing incessantly in his tub. "Rip the damn thing out of my head! I implore you Jessi!"

She shook her head, "I can't do that Amanda; you would die the moment I touched it. It's programmed to do that."

"I can't live with myself knowing I'm the reason Kyle will die in a matter of days. You have to kill me because I won't, I can't." Amanda's hair was a tangled mess and her clothes stank. In fact, Jessi didn't appear to be any better.

"What's going on?" Kyle asked. Of course the memory simply continued.

"I refuse," memory Jessi said and walked out.

"We've tried everything! There's nothing left!" Amanda yelled hoarsely.

Jessi turned to him as the scene returned to reality and Kyle started shivering in the cold pool of sweat, hungry and thirsty beyond anything he'd ever felt. "What happened?"

"Latnok killed you with Amanda." She held his head in her hands as fresh tears fell. "They now have a way to kill us, from anywhere in the world."

"How?" was all he could say. His throat constricted shut as sob after sob throbbed through his frame.

"When you tried to disintegrate that chip in Amanda's head with electricity, you only kick-started its program. It took a couple weeks to get through its setup files but once it started broadcasting you fell and began dreaming, two months ago."

"But I'm fine now; it's alright, right?"

"She walked out in front of a bus – in Toronto." Jessi looked down. "I'm so sorry; by the time I learned of her plan I could only try to talk her out of it by cell phone."

Without a moment's hesitation she showed him the conversation in her memory.

Rage, a once foreign emotion to Kyle, was bubbling in him now, ready to explode.

_The old Kyle died that day with Amanda's useless death. The first person to die at my hands was Cassidy, even though Jessi got to him first. It took a fair bit of time before I learned that not all of Latnok was like Cassidy, but that was well after I had destroyed it from the inside out – like Cassidy had tried to do with my life._

_I was thankful for Jessi throughout the campaign. Without her I would have lost myself to the rage and become a merciless demon like the one from my nightmare, only not 1500 feet tall. And can't forget the babies that feasted on the blood of their violently slain mother either. Can't do that after all, not that I'd ever want to._

_***_

A tremendous explosion rocked the earth and a huge fireball flowered high above them.

"Shall we go home?" Kyle said to Jessi.

She smiled, sighed, and broadened her smile further, giving his hand a squeeze.

_With Latnok gone the world might be in some ways worse off, but we could live the way we wanted to – in peace. In some strange ritual, that night, as Jessi and I made love for the first time, I silently dedicated it to Amanda, whose sacrifice made it possible._

_Besides, how could I have ever chosen between them? They were more alike than they ever cared to admit._

FIN

**Author's Note: To Amanda and Jessi fans, I don't know what's gotten into me but at least you know where the inspiration for this piece came from. That darned chip in Amanda's head. Review please!**


	4. Coming Out

**Coming Out**, a Kyle's Briefs and Boxers ficlet

Disclaimer: I do not own Kyle XY, but don't you wish you did?

_Despite my abilities, it never occurred to me to be an Olympic athlete. Aside from the obvious repercussions of fame and possible fortune, there undoubtedly would be the increased risk of exposure to the greater outside world. How would Latnok react to my participation in such an event?_

_Decisions, decisions._

(Joke monologue, but what inspired that huh?)

After a brief curse, she asked him, "Kyle, wait up! I forgot my purse in the lounge."

Kyle stopped and stared at his co-worker. She never lied and yet here she had. Was she too lying just to get over the fact tonight was his last day? It didn't make sense but with everyone lying today, Kyle was at his wit's end trying to fathom a reason for their sudden obsession.

When he said nothing and just stood there, Mel turned to him and said, "Can you accompany me, Kyle?"

Always a sucker to help a friend, even a distant one like a co-worker, he said, "Sure," and took her proffered arm as they walked briskly toward the lounge. She smiled at him and yet avoided his eyes.

Kyle's ears picked up rustling in the lounge and quite a surprising number of heartbeats in the lounge as they approached. They had yet to take the last corner to get there when he stopped her and said, accusingly, "You've planned a surprise get together for me? In the lounge?" He was massively surprised, floored actually. A grin split his face and Mel smiled in return, but this time squarely into his eyes.

_I had spent three months in an accelerated medical residency as part of my three part major in med school. I was on the last day of my residency when my co-workers – and employer – surprised me with a farewell party. The only thing that had even remotely tipped me off had been the frequent lying._

"Ah crap! How did... Never mind, you figured it out like you do everything else." There was never any doubt she meant harm with that comment; there was only praise and admiration in her voice. He ignored the extra little hints like he had ignored them every day since he'd arrived. She pulled at his arm to slow. "Please pretend you're surprised."

A knowing smile reappeared on his face. "Of course."

When he went into the room behind Mel he acted his heart out and got an appreciative glance from Mel. After the cake and the 18 carat gold pocket watch, engraved with his initials and the little message, '_The sky's the limit_.'

The party didn't last particularly long, especially considering how long the working hours were at the hospital. However, he made sure to thank everyone for coming and for having worked with him during the last three months.

Mel wasn't the only girl who required a long hug from him. In fact, one guy had too. It only later crossed his mind as to why. He shook the thought away because it simply didn't matter. At home he had his choice of two beautiful, gifted women.

Mel, Gail, and Dez (short for Desirée) accompanied him to his car after the party had finished.

As he put his hand on the handle of the door, Dez said, "Oh Kyle, I'm so sad that you're leaving us!"

Kyle could feel her pain and was dismayed that she was actually telling him the truth. "You are very talented Dez and will make a fine doctor."

"Maybe we'll eventually work together somewhere?" she asked, with little hope.

Kyle gave her a small smile and lied, "Maybe we will Dez." He turned his attention to the other two. "Maybe I'll work with all of you at some time." He saw that Mel had tears in her eyes.

Gail stepped forward as he opened the door on his rental. The hospital was paying for it as part of its going away present. The Director personally had taken notice of his work, which was at once gratifying but also troubling. He didn't want to attract too much attention and yet seemed to be unable to keep it from happening.

"Please Kyle, one last hug," said the fiery red head, her arms open wide.

Gail's last three hugs had been a little too languorous for his taste and made him notice her femininity a little too much. He felt bad really, but didn't want to give her – or Dez for that matter – the wrong idea. "If I gave you another hug Gail, I'd have to give one to both Mel and Dez." When Dez nodded vigorously and Mel cast her eyes down to her shiny black shoes, he continued, "You all know I have a beautiful girl at home and giving you hugs will just give you the wrong idea." None of them knew he had two beautiful girls at home and he had yet to pick between them. Although he liked these three very much, there was no way he'd let himself get stuck having to pick between five women.

He suddenly sensed angry determination from Gail. He realized a little too late that he probably should have given her that final hug. He smiled to each of them in turn, said, "Good bye, it's really been a pleasure to meet and work with you all."

Before he could close the door though, Gail pounced on him and landed on his lap. As she started to right herself she grabbed him and made him feel like a squeeze toy. He was furious with her for abusing his good nature. "Girls, let's give him a present he'll never forget!" yelled Gail.

Dez hooted at this and climbed into the passenger door and lifted her top, revealing a bra as dark as her skin.

Kyle sat there, frozen, unable to decide what to do. As Gail and Dez planted ferocious kisses all over him – and tore his shirt to pieces, as well as started opening his pants – Kyle noticed that Mel had yet to make a move. Their eyes locked and he tried to plead with her for assistance.

But Mel's eyes fell back to her shoes as she turned away in a run.

Both Gail and Dez had his pants down to his knees in less than a minute and they were barely clothed too. They groped and poked and giggled in a manner that angered him. The sensations were strange and new – and remarkably, utterly astounding – but he did not want to share his virginity with these two.

As Gail grabbed him and sat on his lap facing him, he quickly learned she had shed the last of her clothes.

She planted a ferocious kiss on his lips and bit his lower lip hard.

Yet strangely he felt very little pain. The doors opened of their own accord and the women started shrieking as they floated unceremoniously to the ground. The doors closed and locked themselves immediately while his clothes – or what was left of them – came to him. Awkwardly and difficultly he put on his clothes, ignoring the screams and yells of rape outside.

He drove off without a second glance, and drove all the way to Seattle instead of taking the flight that had been purchased for him. He'd pay whatever additional charges there were for the car. To think he just might have been raped by two women he had thought highly of. He was in shock for almost two hours.

***

He drove the entire eighteen hundred miles in one sitting. He abused some of his abilities in the process: eliminating waste products internally and keeping himself from getting hungry or sleepy during the entire trip. When he got home he knew he looked appreciably pale and none too well.

When Jessi spotted him, only moments before Amanda did, her smile instantly became a frown. Amanda's face turned a deep frown at his appearance.

He might not have yet chosen between them but they both ran to him and held him tenderly and gently as he slowly explained why he was so late in arriving. It was only then he noticed the police cruiser parked in front of the house.

"Am I in trouble?" he asked, realizing quite well that both Gail's and Dez's cries of rape might have sparked the trouble.

Jessi's lips straightened and she said, barely opening her mouth, "The police were here to arrest you until they spoke with a certain Melanie Sanders."

Amanda spoke up. "Now they're building a case of slander and the misuse of police and a number of misdemeanour charges."

Kyle was shocked. "How did that happen? Mel left just as they were tearing my shirt."

Now it was Amanda's turn to clench her teeth. She somehow managed to squeeze out a sentence. "She recorded them on her cell phone from behind another car."

Kyle's bowels seemed to tighten into a knot. "You've both seen it?" They nodded simultaneously.

Jessi spat, "The first time I saw the video I could have killed them."

Amanda nodded, then said, "We're now down to disembowelling them instead."

Jessi added, "Amanda, disembowelling can easily lead to killing; maybe we should just bitch slap them raw."

Amanda was speechless. She routinely clenched her jaw even as they both gently held him. It occurred to him that he'd lost a good thirty pounds on the trip, mostly due to the constant abuse of his abilities.

The rest of his family came out at once, accompanied by two police officers. Behind them all was a dishevelled Mel. When the tearful reunion ended – and the painful explanation to the police as to how the women had floated out of a seemingly possessed car – he gave Mel a huge hug of thanks.

"You're a terrific friend Mel. Thank you so much!"

Nicole and Stephen – no, his entire family – looked very gratefully at Mel. Mel seemed a little ill at ease with all the attention but tried to shrug it off. "You're too special to have something like that tarnish you."

He knew then that she loved him too. His appreciation for her rescue forced him to consider her as a valid choice of his affection, if he ever got to choose between Amanda, Jessi, and now Mel. It occurred to him what she said. He guessed there could be no denying of his being special.

He turned to Amanda. "I guess you know my secrets now huh?" A small smile appeared on his lips.

"Duh," she said, returning his smile and giving his shoulder a squeeze.

A burly police officer said, "Too many people have seen your video by now to hide your secret. But there are those of us who will gladly help you at every turn."

Josh exclaimed, "The video already has fourteen and a half million views on the internet."

Jessi rolled her eyes. "It's gone totally viral."

Hillary squealed his name from the end of the street. She started running at once. A few heads turned in his direction and Kyle saw one neighbour race to their house – presumably to get a camera or something. Jessi brought his attention to a couple across the street who already had their cell phones out and were recording them.

"They've been at it for three minutes fifty three seconds."

Kyle looked at his family and friends, and even the police. His gaze stopped at once on Mel, who seemed awfully quiet. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Mel said, "I should never have given a copy of the video to the newspaper; I will have caused you untold grief, scrutiny, you name it."

Kyle started laughing even as Hillary came sprinting onto the lawn, to stop only a foot away. "I knew you were special Kyle!" she screeched. "I demand an interview!" Her flawless smile quickly turned to a frown. "What happened to you Kyle? You look terrible!"

_I had always worried my abilities would expose me at some point, but I never could have imagined it happening this way. An attack by two frenzied and yet relatively innocent women changed the world when one surprisingly less innocent woman took a video of the attack she had wished to join in. Only her reticence at engaging in the act of which she had been a victim kept her from joining them._

_Of course, she only told me that secret when she died sixty-seven years later._


	5. How Hills Had Heaven

**How Hills Had Heaven**, a Kyle's Briefs and Boxers ficlet

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kyle XY**

Author's Note: This is way AU, timed near the beginning of season 3. What if Kyle had had to save Hillary instead of Amanda? This is an alternate season 3 beginning.

Please Note: I am a Kylanda fan -- and even of Kessi to a lesser degree -- and yet here's a mostly Killary ficlet. I hope you enjoy!  
  
_ Amanda was nowhere to be found. Jessi and I were enormously surprised to see Hillary strapped into a machine. When I returned home, Amanda was safe and sound. She had been picked up by Charlie when I left her at the Prom and now they were dating again._

Kyle growled loudly, attracting Jessi's attention. "Kyle, take it easy. It was her choice all along." She chuckled, "You know what they say about blondes..."

Kyle furrowed his brow. "No, I don't."

Jessi smiled condescendingly and put her hand to his shoulder. "Ignore it then." She stared into his eyes and came a little closer.

Kyle knew what she wanted but he couldn't be bothered at the moment. He was angry at Amanda's choice to go back out with Charlie of all people! He turned around just as Jessi came up for a kiss, her lips landing on his cheek. Feeling empty and pitiless, Kyle walked to his bedroom, leaving Jessi standing there, hurt and angry too.

Besides, Kyle wanted to check on Hillary to make sure she was perfectly fine. When they'd found her she had been on some strong sedatives and her hair had been buzzed short. Her heartbeat was steady and strong, if still a bit slow. Dismayed at having to wait even longer, he put his hand on her arm and concentrated. With some effort he isolated the sedative and started seeping it through her skin. It smelled bad doing it this way and she would quickly become hydrated, but he needed to know if she remembered anything about her capture by Latnok. He couldn't understand why they'd pick her to try to harm him. Hillary was simply too forward a person for him, and much too shallow, too materialistic.

When nearly 88% of the sedative was out of her body, Hillary's eyes fluttered open. She groaned and blinked a few times before asking, incredulously, "Kyle?"

She was in his tub, somewhere she'd never even seen much less slept in, despite being Lori's best friend. She grabbed the sides of the tub and said, more loudly, "Why am I in a bath tub? Where am I?"

"It's okay Hillary, you're safe now. You're at our house, in my room." He gave her a soft squeeze.

She looked around. "Why am I in your tub? Why not your bed?" She looked around again. "You don't have a bed?"

"I really like ceramic okay?" Kyle said much more forcefully than he had intended. It bothered him that no one could understand why he'd even like to sleep in a nice crowded tub when one could sleep on something as fluffy and open as a bed. He shivered at the thought. "What's the last thing you remember?"

She sat upright in the tub and took his proffered hand to rise to her feet. She swayed there and he held her close. A sly smile spread on her lips. "You've never held me like that before."

Before Kyle could even ask the question again her lips were on his, and her tongue demanded entry into his mouth. He couldn't resist her advances and before he knew it she had his shirt open and his pants unzipped while she was partially clothed herself.

_Somewhere in the back of my mind, I felt Jessi leave the house in anger, quite likely from Hillary's advances. If she had remained I could certainly have used her help. Without her, it would soon be clear I was defenceless._

Kyle could feel her desire, her lust, and could swear he could even smell her pheromones as she draped her languid legs around my hips. What she was doing made his body respond in ways he'd never envisioned. He could scarcely think. In his mind's eye all he saw was Hillary.

She continued her onslaught until he was in a terrible lather from desire of his own. He mimicked her every action, followed her every move to absolutely mind blowing results.  
When he felt it could get no better, he felt a crest and a mounting surge of physical delirium all over his abdomen and concentrated somewhat lower.

She continued to kiss him until she began biting his lower lip, held his head in her hands, and stared hard into his eyes. The sensations stopped for the merest moment when what he saw in her eyes did not match what she was doing to him. Hillary looked sorry.

He tried to say, "It's okay, continue," but with his lower lip in between her teeth, fairly tenderly, what he said didn't come out correctly. He closed his eyes and held her closer, trying to regain the feeling that suddenly ebbed when it had been so close to cresting completely, he was sure.

The next few moments were a blur. Suddenly she took a big chunk of his lower lip in her mouth and bit down with all her strength, and slammed her palms against his ears. The shock from the blow to his ears specifically impacted him much more than the bite to his lower lip, despite the gout of blood pouring down his front.

She reached down and attempted to grab him but kept her hand at bay with frantic motions. He instinctively believed she wanted to harm him, disable him perhaps.

He was right of course.

When she brought her knee forcefully between his legs he only barely managed to protect himself in time. He willed the blood in her body to flow down, away from her brain even as she fought and kicked and scratched. She collapsed in a heap just outside the tub.

His ears rang even as he tried to extend his hearing. Her blow had been too hard and had indeed hurt his hearing. As the glass to his window was smashed with the butt of an automatic machine gun, numerous darts flew toward him. He evaded six of them but was struck by three in short order. Even as he collapsed he saw Charlie emerge with a shorter tanned man, beautiful in his own way, with a dark, piercing gaze.

Kyle overheard the new man, who spoke in a smooth English accent, "It's time to bring this experiment to fruition. We'll reprogram him and transplant him in a small enclosed shelter. He'll believe the world has fallen to global nuclear war and his only way to live will be to connect to the computer in his shelter." He laughed. "Then we'll have our biological computer we've always wanted." He laughed much louder, maniacally even.

Charlie laughed too, his cheeks ruddy and red. He clapped the man on the back, a broad smile on his lips and an evil look in his eye.

As the edges of his vision started to darken, the last exchange was barely audible, and yet he still understood its meaning.

"Did you like your present Charlie? Is Amanda to your liking now?"

"Oh yeah," Charlie said with a leer.

***

_I sometimes wondered why I even bothered to survive when everyone I knew was long dead. In the large bomb shelter I was in, alone, I had sufficient supplies, vitamins and the like to live for years, even perhaps a decade or more._

For the 1,346th time Kyle resisted the urge to communicate with the shelter's computer. It called to him, at times in Amanda's voice, sometimes in Jessi's, and even sometimes in Nicole's or Stephen's or Josh's voice. And yet, despite the familiarity, its near constant request to communicate with him, he felt he had to ignore it.

There was no reason for it other than it didn't feel right. There was some reason he felt compelled to ignore the computer but he couldn't remember why. Perhaps due to paranoia or downright distrust, he believed the computer was evil.

And so he spent days, weeks, and finally months, eating, drinking, and sleeping. He had no view of the outside world so he couldn't be sure if it was yet in the process of recovering or was deep in the grips of a nuclear winter. He strongly suspected it was, and quite probably would be going into an ice age as a result.

After a time he no longer even heard the computer. It blinked in various colours and almost certainly continued to speak to him, but he found a way to ignore all sounds and signals emanating from it.

Just after a year and a half had passed, he started getting weaker. His muscles lost their tone, their shape, and he became somewhat flabby. He was definitely not fat, just weak. It felt like his mind was only partially his own, as he felt that a part of himself wasn't there.

For the first time in almost a year, the computer suddenly roared to life, making loud noises that could not be simply ignored, and blinking in hypnotic sequences of colours. Perhaps because it had been such a long time or maybe because the computer could be his only companion, he approached it but kept well away from touching it.

"You have my attention Computer," he said, naming it like a person, "I don't need you."

"Kyle," Computer shouted in a poor semblance of Amanda's voice. "You're still alive! We thought we'd lost you years ago!"

He shook his head and took a step back. "I've been in here just little over twenty months now; what you say is impossible!"

The computer blinked and seemed to spark as puffs of white noise emanated from it. Suddenly, a poor imitation of Jessi's voice came over its speakers, "Kyle, you are in a computer designed by Cassidy—"

Kyle, having been alone for so long, had chosen to forget about social graces and interrupted Computer, even if it did somewhat sound like Jessi. "I don't know a Cassidy."

"It's not important!" yelled Computer in Declan's voice. "Listen to Jessi, Kyle!"

Jessi's voice returned. "Cassidy was a high ranking person in Latnok. They captured you with Hillary's help. Please," Computer implored, as much as a computer could, "touch the terminal. If you do, we'll be able to find you."

Kyle smiled a bitter smile. "Why can't you find me now?"

Amanda's voice came over the speakers, "Do you trust me Kyle? Unless you touch the terminal, we'll never find you."

Jessi's voice sounded on the verge of tears. "We've tried."

Kyle kicked at the bare cement floor and pinched his arm hard. The sensation in his arm certainly felt like pain and he was utterly bored of this lonely existence. "I'd trust you if you were Amanda, Computer. You can't fool me. Everyone is dead!"

Josh's voice, sounding a fair bit older and wiser, came from Computer. "Dude, how can we prove to you that you're the one in need of saving? You're the one trapped in some warped prison! We haven't died!"

Lori's voice was equally old but clearly similar. "We love you Kyle!"

Stephen's voice, oddly quavering, added his own plea, "Kyle, please, listen to your family, to your father."

Kyle felt tears burning at the corners of his eyes. "I witnessed the first bombs detonating all over the horizon; I knew the concussive blast would reach the shelter before you all did." Softly, he added, "When I closed the door I killed you." He could still see their desperate faces, pleading with him to keep it open those few seconds longer.

The voice who had stayed silent for much of his imprisonment, now made itself heard. He longed to hear her voice, his mother's. It quavered, as though it was old, weary. "You believe us to be vengeful spirits then Kyle? I thought you were more analytical than that." The warmth he had expected was nowhere in this voice; it attacked, pricked, poked, stung. It downright attempted to cut him. "Do you have anything to lose by touching the terminal?"

"My freedom."

There was a long pause. "I thought I had lost you years ago Kyle, until Jessi and Foss came back with your body. You're very much alive, but your consciousness is not in your brain. It's been deflected somehow; you're not in a bomb shelter. The year is 2032 and I'm 73 years old and want my oldest son to return to me before I die." Another, longer pause. "I don't want to change a bed pan anymore. I want to hug my frail son. Please, touch it Kyle, at the cost of your freedom. What makes more sense? This supposed existence you're living, where everyone you know and love has died, or would your capture by Latnok and imprisonment be more their style?"

"I don't remember getting captured by anyone," Kyle said softly. His teeth clenched shut involuntarily and his fists balled tightly at his sides.

A new voice sounded on Computer's speakers, a voice he didn't immediately recognize. "The day you were captured you and Jessi had just saved me from Latnok. Do you remember this?"

The voice's name seemed to be on the tip of his tongue, but whether his tongue wanted him to utter her name was an altogether different story. He stayed mute and only shook his head. Tears started pouring down his face.

After twenty-one seconds passed, the new voice continued, "Jessi found a computer chip in the back of my head and in Amanda's head too. She and Foss used us to find Latnok's base and find your body."

Jessi's voice interrupted Hillary's voice. "Michael Cassidy set the compound to self destruct when he saw us coming for you. He and everyone who knew how to find you died in the explosion. We only barely managed to get you out in time."

Amanda's voice returned. "Jessi and everyone have tried everything they could think of to get you back. Without your effort, your meeting them halfway, they will fail. We need you Kyle."

Kyle's nose was stuffy from the tears. He knew the biological processes responsible for the stuffiness but did nothing about it. He took a step closer to the computer, closer than he'd ever walked during his entire time there. If what Nicole had said, his twenty months of solitude had actually been twenty years' time.

It was baffling, but somehow did not surprise. When revisiting his holographic memory for five minutes it had commonly only taken three and a half seconds of real time. But shouldn't the computer be speaking unbearably fast if that was the case?

He took a step closer and reached out his hand. As a spark crossed between the terminal and his hand he vividly remembered what Hillary had done to him. She might have been controlled by Latnok at the time but…

***

When his eyes opened the light was unbearably bright and his mouth was dry as dust. The shapes he knew to be people – the people he loved – resolved themselves into much older, much more worn than they had a right to be.

He saw Jessi, Amanda, Josh, Lori, Stephen , Nicole, Declan, and finally Hillary. It took only a glance to notice the wedding band on each of them. To Nicole, he opened his arms – they weighed a ton each but he willed them to stay up – and she walked into them, a bright dentured smile from ear to ear. It took another glance to see tears in everyone's eyes, even Hillary's.

The wires in his arms, in his throat, and elsewhere didn't at all bother him.

"Welcome back, Kyle," she said.

"Thanks for never giving up, and for challenging me. You're the only reason I touched it you know."

_I knew it would take quite some time to fully recover from my coma-like ordeal, but with Jessi, with my friends and my family – despite all the new additions to that extended family – I knew this life would be infinitely better than the one I left behind._

_Now, if only I could find it in me to punch Hillary for betraying me like that. I know it wasn't her fault, that she was controlled, but no one should be forced to live such a life as I had lived._

Kyle accepted hugs from each and every one. When it was Hillary's turn Kyle closed his right hand into a fist, to pummel her – not that he could have actually even come close to hurting her in his weakened state – and noticed the ring was on her right hand, not her left.

"You're unmarried?" he said.

She looked deeply into his eyes. "These two couldn't keep themselves available when their biological clocks started ticking—"

Both Amanda and Jessi gasped angrily at her description of events. It made him smile sadly as now he couldn't pick one of them as he had always intended.

Hillary continued, nonplussed, "But mine never started ticking so I've waited at your side ever since." Nicole nodded.

He accepted her hug, keeping the punching in his private thoughts. His heart swelled at the love he felt in her. No longer was this the flightly Hillary of high school. She had fallen for him harder than either Amanda or Jessi.

"I love you Kyle," she said with a big squeeze.

He was speechless but happy.

**Please review. I want to know what you liked and what you didn't. Thanks!**


	6. Cracked Like an Overly Boiled Egg

**Cracked Like Overly-Boiled Eggs**, a Kyle's Briefs and Boxers ficlet. Rated T.

**Author's Note: This is a companion piece, prequel if you will, to Josh the Lovable Geek, one of my stories. If you do not know that story, maybe you should read it first. To be honest, I have no clue where this came from. I do not own Kyle XY.**

_Last night, I dreamed of killing Cassidy by literally boiling his brain in his skull as he lived the horror of the experience. The eyes bulged and eventually popped out of their sockets, which was followed by frothy and foamy goo that looked surprisingly like hard boiled eggs -- without the yolk._

_It should be obvious to anyone who knows me that I will not be killing anyone -- even Cassidy, my brother, who has repeatedly threatened the very same to all my friends and family. Yet my curiosity was piqued by the idea; could I in fact, heat a glass of water and make it boil? I can easily move a glass of water or even a human being, with only the power of my mind, by focusing on the water within that body._

Kyle answered the phone, "Hello."

"Hi Kyle, is Josh there?"

Kyle recognized the voice instantly. "Hi Andy, no he's not. He's at work I think." He paused briefly as he pondered what he could do for her. "I can forward your call to the Rack if you want."

What he had hoped would happen was thwarted ever so easily and with quite a bit of surprise besides. Andy let out a string of curses. "I've already called there and he's not there."

"He's probably just hanging out with a friend or something," Kyle said to ease the tension.

"Kyle. We're talking about Josh here; he has no friends. That's why we work so well together!"

Kyle stared at the glass of water on the small table in front of his tub. He made it float in mid air. "I don't know what to say Andy."

Andy sighed heavily. "I told him I wasn't going to be available for our daily chat today but didn't tell him why. I'm in Seattle for a visit."

"Oh, he'll love that!" Kyle almost shouted with glee.

Andy let out a quick breath out of her nose, making a strange noise over the phone. "Would you mind picking me up at the airport Kyle?"

The glass came down without a sound on the small table. "Sure, which terminal are you at?" When she gave him the information he finished, "Be there in twenty."

***

Josh whistled as he parked his car in the driveway. He felt on top of the world and vastly relieved of his tensions. It was all well and good to see Andy on his computer screen every night but without her in the flesh he had been feeling particularly peckish of late. He knew this girl at school who had few scruples and had some nice ones – if only her face wasn't butt ugly. She'd been all too happy to help him out with his troubles, for the simple cost of a movie in a back alley theatre and a combo at a fast food place.

When Josh opened the door and saw Andy scowling at him, his breath caught.

When he then thought of the hickeys he had on his chest from the overly enthusiastic girl – her name was no longer important – he swallowed hard.

Andy stood there, fists on her hips, her hair in a ponytail, and said, "Where the hell have you been?" She nonetheless grinned and said, "Surprise!" and jumped on him there and then. The few times they'd done it, she'd always had her hair in a ponytail, which only made little him react despite previous attention that morning, and afternoon. As he held her and received her vicious kisses, he groaned in his throat. He was so dead.

She got down as Kyle came into the hallway. "Hey Josh," he said while frowning slightly and looking at Andy, "I was wandering around the airport when I saw Andy here and, well, I brought her home for you." He smiled at Andy and she returned it.

"When you didn't answer your phone – because you left it here you scallywag, arr – I waited through lunch and supper for you to return." She gave him a big hug and said, "I'm only here today and half the day tomorrow but I thought maybe we could, you know, go out and do stuff."

Kyle stared at him with a very serious frown and Josh knew with a sinking feeling he'd be called out there and then before he even got to see his beautiful girlfriend – very long distance and absolutely hot girlfriend – out of the house and more importantly out of some of those clothes. The opportunity presenting itself was just too delicious. He pleaded with Kyle with his eyes.

Kyle's gaze hardened before he smiled and nodded. Josh felt a wave of relief flooding his entire system and the dread washed away. Maybe Kyle would even zap those unsightly hickeys so there'd be no questions at all. "Yo bro, thanks for taking care of my girl here." Josh kind of ignored the harrumph Andy gave at being called his girl. "Um, can you help me out with a computer problem for a second? I think my computer fried last night and that's what I've been doing, scoping out a new rig."

Andy said, "I can help you with that! What are the specs?"

Kyle seemed to hesitate – almost certainly because he knew Josh was lying through his teeth – and said, "With your account balance of two hun–"

"Hold on there genius, don't divulge the finances to the lady before we get hitched; she might start seeing me only for my money."

Andy pulled away with a huge smile, "Hardly," she said sweetly.

Seeing his chance, Josh extracted himself from her grip and said, "Just be a sec sweetie, guy talk for just a sec." He cringed when he noticed he had repeated the phrase just a sec. Andy had once accused him of repeating himself when he was compulsively lying or boasting, which of course he was doing.

Andy said, a little less happily, "Sure, not like I haven't already been waiting all day."

Once in Kyle's room, Josh lifted his shirt, revealing the nasty hickeys. "Dude, please please please, can you get rid of these for me?"

Kyle's eyes screwed up at the ugly splotches, "Are they what I think they are?"

Josh swallowed, ready to deny everything but knowing the truth was likely the only thing that could convince his brother to go along with him. He focused on the idea, _this is the truth_. "They're bruises; I've joined a sparring club for some spare cash and if Andy sees these she'll get worried." Josh desperately grinned to his brother the podling. "I'll do anything for you man."

It was then Josh noticed a small glass of water on the table beside Kyle's tub. He started to reach for it and was about to ask to drink it when Kyle suddenly stopped his every movement –without touching him, which really was worrisome – until he noticed the water steaming in the glass and the glass cracked in a few places.

Josh swallowed while Kyle heaved a great sigh. The water froze solid in the glass, shattering it completely.

Kyle said, very slowly and very ominously, "Sure thing Josh, let me take care of those suction-like bruises, aka hickeys, on your body. I will not ruin her day and her surprise. You will. If you come back here and I learn you haven't told her, your blood might just boil or freeze. I just haven't decided which would be more painful."

Josh saw the hickeys were indeed gone but he no longer felt good about his prospects of having a good night.

***

_It so happened I could both heat or freeze water at will, but it was most easily done with the right emotional inputs. What Josh had done, not just today but on three other occasions in the last six months, was most deplorable. I still wouldn't kill him _–_ he was my brother, one I loved dearly _–_ but I loved Andy just the same. She deserved better than my brother._

The next morning, the anger was clear in Andy's whole being. She had stayed silent throughout the trip to the airport, and even though her flight only left at four that afternoon, she had asked Kyle to drive her back when it was only ten in the morning. Needless to say she hadn't slept with Josh last night, and for that Kyle was glad.

"I forced him to tell you," Kyle said finally after debating for 532 seconds whether he should even mention it. Finally, only the memory of Amanda with Charlie convinced him that he should.

"Why didn't you tell me if you knew?"

Kyle rolled his eyes at his foolishness. He had made the same mistake with Amanda.

A long pause followed her question. Finally he said, "I don't have anything but excuses. I'm sorry, Andy."

Another long pause followed this. Eventually they got to the airport and she booked a room with cash for the few hours before her flight. She turned to him and held his hand just as he had prepared to leave, "Do you mind staying with me for a bit? I don't really want to be alone right now."

He nodded, knowing only that she would be hurt if he declined her invitation.

They talked over room service and over a few frenzied games of G-Force.

When two-thirty chimed in with a call from the front desk, Andy turned to Kyle and said, with admiration in her eyes. "I think Josh is right. You did cure my cancer didn't you?"

Kyle was caught off guard with her comment.

"I never told Josh where my cancer was; do you know?"

Looking back in time, in his memory, was a trifling matter for him now. He might not have known then but he knew now. He nodded but didn't answer.

"My ovaries were warped and useless. It's why I had sex – done in anger. Would you know how they miraculously began to function like normal when I was cured? I hadn't had a period in years Kyle. Not that I care for them really, but thanks."

She kissed Kyle full on the mouth, but did nothing more.

_I wouldn't see Andy again for many years, and little did I know I would eventually marry her instead of either Amanda or Jessi. The cracks in an egg's shell are much more easily predictable than human interaction. We seem to have free will _–_ and indeed we exercise it all the time _–_ but there seems to be a force counter to free will that has a plan of its own._

_To this day I wonder if that dream of boiling Cassidy's brain wasn't put there by that force..._


	7. Force Feedback

**Force Feedback**, a Kyle's Briefs or Boxers ficlet

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kyle XY**

***

_My research into symbiosis inspired me to invent an educational tool that would revolutionize teaching, or so I had hoped. What transpired made me see how far the world has come in its depravity. It did not assuage me in any way that my invention had made me a multi-billionaire in less than six months._

I reached for the poison ivy plant and focused on the sensations the contact caused. As I had actually touched poison ivy before I knew well what I should be feeling. When the beginnings of the irritation were felt I became jittery; the simulation was perfect.

I switched programs and in no more than five minutes was bitten by a rattlesnake, stung by jelly fish, and even experienced a mild heart attack. The last might have been too intimate for my liking but I was sure people would want to know how it felt, even if their heart was still relatively healthy. I even hoped the experience might persuade some to change the way they behaved or lived. This invention might even be able to make a difference!

"What are you doing?" Jessi said as she entered my workshop. She was the only person I trusted with access to my lab but I was beginning to question whether it was wise to show her all my projects when she never showed me hers.

Not one to lie, I replied, "Hi Jessi. I'm working on a TBE tool – teach by experience."

I almost saw her ears perk at its name. She drew close and touched the center of my chest like she almost always did. "Sounds promising," she said softly, seductively. I felt my heart rate increase as she came close to my ear. She knew I had very sensitive ears, and not in a bad way either. "What? You just put it on your finger?" She almost instantly frowned.

I removed the implement on the tip of my index finger and revealed a small chip on the side of the finger, beside the nail. "No, you need an implant that communicates with your nervous system first."

"You're the lab rat of course," she said with a smile and removed her hand. "What kinds of experiences are you teaching?" When I told her, she laughed out loud and shook her head. "I think there's a bigger market in the underbelly of society for this product Kyle. Sex for one. Alcohol, drugs. People can feel high without being in any real danger."

That was something I had not considered. The TBE would be a great tool for recovering alcoholics by allowing them a taste of a drink without actual consumption. "That's a great idea Jessi!" I exclaimed and took a step closer, intending to give her a hug.

Of course, propriety kept me from doing so, considering she was now married. It didn't help that my body had started nullifying the electrical charge we used to generate when we kissed or touched. I believed that was the reason she continued trying to get a jolt from contact, in an effort to show me she still wanted to be with me.

"I still care for you Jessi," I said.

"But you don't love me," she replied coldly.

It was a conversation we'd had much too often. Anything said more than five or six times was too much for those of us who had perfect memories. I sighed noisily. I ignored the path this conversation had taken in the past and instead changed the topic entirely. "I think it's ready to market."

She smiled and offered to have her husband try it out since he was an officer at Latnok. With their approval it would most certainly be produced exceedingly quickly and given attention. Whether the attention was as altruistic as she believed we argued sporadically.

I shook my head and decided I'd market it myself.

***

That was my mistake. Even though I'd signed the rights of distribution to the invention to a company that made children's movies as well as countless teaching materials for children, the TBE was quickly sold for one hundred times the money I'd sold them.

The underbelly of society had gotten hold of the TBE and was even now outfitting movie theatres with the TBE for a new type of porn. Every person going into these theatres would be essentially sleeping with a porn star – without the potential disease.

The whole illicit drug and prostitution side to the TBE bothered me greatly too. Heck, last I heard, government agencies were training staff using it. Even though I was now a multi-billionaire, I had yet to see a single child-friendly version of the product on the market. Everywhere it was used for violence or gore in one way or another.

***

I saw Josh nine months later. We had always been pretty close and even though Andy had died from a recurrence of her cancer – one I couldn't cure despite my best efforts – I had the misfortune of receiving a compliment I didn't want to hear from any family member of mine.

"Kyle, that TBE is great!" Even in my memory of the comment I have removed the expletive.

I haven't seen or spoken to him since.

_Maybe Josh's banishment is harsh as Jessi is quick to mention – even Nicole believes it extravagant, to my dismay – but don't I have to draw a line somewhere? I need to keep my honesty, my integrity at the forefront. By accepting the compliment, expletive and all, don't I simply then say I agree with the misuse of the TBE?_

_Now, my next invention can't possibly be misused like that. It's a nerve rejuvenating treatment primarily for spinal chord injuries._

Jessi, ever the realist, said to me, "Your NRT will be controlled and out of your hands in six minutes after you sign away your rights to it. Only the rich and powerful will have and use it. Give it to Latnok."

I knew that she was going to get a huge bonus from Latnok for getting even this invention from me. Did that bother me? Definitely.

_And so I am forced to wonder: is Jessi right? Is my altruism clouding my vision? I look around and declare that it probably is._

"I'll give it to you Jessi," I say.

That's when she erupted in a loud scream and kissed me full on the lips, blowing out the fuses in the lab.

"Sorry," she said.

I smiled at her in the dark, our eyes already switched to night vision. "It's okay." _I intended it_, I think with a smile. Hey, a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do.


End file.
